Visit Part 2

 Other than checking on Rex and his mares, we also took some photos of another colt Shayla has for sale. This is Oscar, he is out of the bay roan mare Sally, that Shayla bought recently, and sired by My Sleepy Valentine. (All AQHA pleasure breeding). 

He is a big boned quiet and friendly colt. 

He is also bay roan like his mama

Very nice soft eye on him.

Then we visited Jayne and her colt. He is only a week old in these photos, so he has a lot of growing and unfolding left to do. This is Jayne's last foal. 

He's a red dun like his sire, Rex

Cute little face! 

You can see his dun stripe in that photo and if you look closely at the other photos the leg barring is there, and will be more visible once he sheds his baby coat. 

As soon as it's convenient, we will be bringing this little guy and Jayne here to spend the summer. That's going to be fun!  And will definitely give me plenty to do, which I do have time for as Gussie is now officially on maternity leave. She's getting big and is about 2 months away from foaling. 

Once her foal is born- 3 babies here! Jayne's foal will leave around the end of September. Theo is getting to the stage where I don't have to work with him every day, so that works out well to have one to work with and by the time Gussie's foal is born, should be at the stage Theo is at now. 

Dynamics

 I spent yesterday visiting Shayla and taking photos for her of her stallion and his mares as well as some photos of the foals for sale. 

Her stallion "Rex" (Majors Pistol) is 3 this year and he has matured nicely. He is a good pasture breeding stallion- respectful of the mare's space but also no nonsense if they stray from the herd. I got to watch him at work with 2 new mares introduced to the herd and how he rounded them up. 

These nice mares belong to The Rowdy Ranch (Facebook page) and they are the people who now own Midnight Mesa, who they call Mindy. 

Also introduced to the herd that day was Shayla's mare Concho and her palomino filly (sired by Rex)'

Rex was trying to drive them to the herd and Concho was saying no- she had just kicked at him and although it may look bad, his kick was nowhere near her. He actually has very good respect for the power of mares!

This is Rex's current herd- a Percheron mare, a grey Azteca/Percheron cross mare, and Shayla's mare Dolly. The sorrel colt, Johnny, is Dolly's and sired by Rex. He looks tiny next to that big draft colt! 

Johnny will be a tall boy when he's all done growing!

As Rex went to the new mares, he circled them widely and didn't put any pressure on them until he got to the point where if they went forward they would be going to the group of mares. 

Sneaking past them....

Beginning the drive

Game on!

It was quite something to watch the power and athleticism of this handsome stallion at work. He had moves like a cutting horse and he was very effective- one would not want to get in the way of even the best minded stallion when it comes to his doing his job. 

There was more to the day, but that's for the next post!

Sunday Silence

 

Theo stuff

 I am very happy with Theo's progress. I started his halter lessons less than 3 weeks ago, and he has become easy to catch in and out of the barn- I haven't tried out in pasture yet as it's too easy for Velvet to take him away. I can pick up all 4 feet and use the hoof pick. He leads with minimal fuss, and I can flip the rope all around him, even using it to lift his feet forward or back. He comes up to me each time I enter the pen or pasture, and wants his scratches. Lets me pet him all over including around his face and ears. Nothing shy about this little guy, he loves attention, although sometimes on his own terms, as can be expected. 

He is starting to shed out that baby fuzz; he should be mostly black by the end of summer. 

He also leads the mares on a merry chase at turn out time- I bet he gives his mama anxiety when he does that!

He is also a bit bored; he plays bitey face with the mares and  sometimes gets TOLD. 

Gussie is a good babysitter, she tolerates but easily puts them in their place when she's had enough. Love her expression in that video, the sideways glance she gives just before delivering the reprimand. 

Gussie is very much the barn boss. Without actually being bossy.

While it seems she guards the entrance, quite often all three of them are in there, and all get along without fuss. Unless, of course, Theo has some shenanigans. It's so nice to have a happy herd. When I turn them out, as I walk to the gate, Gussie by one shoulder and Velvet by the other, keeping pace with me, It gives me a big happy. Love the feeling of harmony. 

Theo may be getting a buddy soon. I made arrangements with Shayla to bring Jayne and her foal here for the summer. Jayne foaled a nice red dun colt last night, and in a couple weeks they should be here.

 Hopefully it will all work out! Jayne also has arthritis like Belle (and Beamer) so this will be her last foal. It will be nice to spend some time with her.  And fun to watch the 2 colts play together!  

A success story

 After last week I though a happy post would be in order. Some of you may recall me posting about one of my sisters who raises Rough Collies- she has been campaigning her male, Levi, and his daughter, Gemma this year, with great results. 

Levi, who is 2 years old, won 2 Best of Winners classes- he has matured into a lovely dog. Side note- that isn't my sister showing him, due to some health reasons she opted to hire professional handlers for the shows. 

Then Gemma, who is just 12 months old, has earned her Canadian Championship!

 So her registered name is now Ch. High Country Catch Your Breath. The Ch before the name denotes her status as a national champion. 

Congratulations, Sis, on your dedication to making these dogs the best they can be!

I have watched some of the shows, and the competition is tough! It's a lot of work preparing them for shows, not just daily but all the grooming right before the class. 

Well done!

Sunday Silence

Mission Accomplished

 Well for Theo's one month day yesterday, we led without the rump rope. It may or may not help that he knows I have a handful of grain!

This evening, we went one step further. Catching without being closed in the barn, taking full advantage of Velvet being busy eating her ration, I haltered Theo and we went for a good but very short session. 

Once I get him used to being led outside, I should be able to catch him out there too. I may have to halter Velvet though and give her a small bit of grain to distract her while I catch Theo out in the pen. I really want to get this done before I turn them out on the 15 acres, as I need to be able to catch any of the horses in case of problems such as wildlife knocking fences down, inclement weather incoming, or even injury. 

Cute little video of him eating a bit of grain

I'm pretty happy with his progress even if it is a little bit behind my regular program. 

Leading

 I'm pretty happy with Theo's willingness to learn. He is still his own boss outside but in the barn, he's a pretty cool little dude- and that's my nickname for him at the moment, Little Dude. 

I also love that the mares come when called, hopefully this will rub off on Theo and as time goes by he too will come when called after he's weaned. 

Tonight's session was improving his leading. So far, he has only given me one step at a time so it was time to ask for a little bit more. He has gotten used to having the rope flipped over him and around his legs, without wanting to move off; so now it was time to use the rope to ask him to move forward when I use it with pressure. You might think that he would be confused, with me wanting him to stand still and accept the rope, and then wanting him to move off the pressure, but this smart little fellow had no trouble figuring it out. I place the rope around his rump leaving plenty of rope to lead with from the halter (I use a 12 ft. lead). First I ask from the halter and if he hesitates I add a little pull on the rump rope. It only took a couple of times for him to get the picture and lead nicely. 

As you can see, that rump rope is draped down over his hocks and ankles at times, but he was fine with that. I think tomorrow I should be able to lead him without it and only add it if needed. He is easy to catch now in the barn, but I still can't halter him out in the open, but that will come. Today is only his 9th day of lessons. Also, I use a smaller diameter rope for working with foals and it is tied onto the halter so there are no big metal clips banging his face. I'm also asking him for his feet every time I handle him, and I can hold them for a little longer every day. 

Good boy Theo!

Fun with Theo

 Theo is getting to be fun to play work with. I started doing more work with sacking out with the rope. I like to be able to flip the rope around all parts of his body without him getting bothered by it. Last night's session was so cute!

Keeping up with cute.....

Those eyes!

Check out the toofers! This also shows the white on his lower lip and chin. 

He's doing so well that today I decided to go back to having him in hand once a day, so this morning before turnout I only handled him unhaltered; picking up his feet and rubbing him all over. 

He is really muscling up and looking pretty darn good, if I do say so myself!

He's not really that rump high, that's a slope he's on

This colt has wheels too; when I turned them out this morning, he took off full tilt, navigating his way at full speed through gates and alleyways and rough ground, while Velvet got left behind and had to hustle her old butt to catch up to her wayward son! He's a character. 

He also likes to pester Gussie, both out in the pasture and if he sees her at the gate- he has to march over there and check her out. 

It's a good thing when the stifle is the widest part of the rump!

If Gussie is in foal, she now has 3 months to go before her due date. She is starting to look heavier in the belly (not wider) and has dropped a bit of weight despite having grass, hay and grain. Which makes sense, as this is the time when the nutritional demands of the foal increase. I'm calling her in foal, especially as she hasn't come into heat yet and both the other mares have had full blown heats. The pen they have access to now is kitty corner to Beamer; he can be only 3 ft. away from them nose to nose and so far she is just ignoring him. 

Theo makes progress

 The evening session with Theo on day 4:

He was fairly easy to catch, and at first quite cooperative. 

I did find in that session that he prefers me to be on his left side. When I tried working on his right it triggered his flight reflex. So I worked on just being on his right side without asking too much of him before ending the session. 

Yesterday- day 5-  he was much easier to catch . I haven't had to get Ted's help the last few days. 

I started with his right side. 

Mostly good, he did have a few moments where he wanted to leave- but he's now figuring out when he gets to the end of the rope to turn and face up instead of rearing and struggling. 

I am trying to be as light as possible with him; only taking the slack out of the rope and then opening my hand quickly when he gives. This will translate to working on softness when he is worked in the bridle. He's comfortable with having his feet picked up, a little longer each time, and this morning when I caught him, it was beside his mama and from the right side. 

I'm pretty happy with his progress so far. He's a big strong colt, so I will continue to work him in the little barn until he shows that I can walk up to him catch him, lead him either side, and give his hip either side. Then I can work on catching him in the bigger pen. 

Working with Theo

I finally got organized to start Theo's halter training. Previously, at about a week old, I had just put a halter on him after Ted helped catch him by holding him around the neck and tail- just let him wear it and then took it off after a few minutes. Surprisingly, he doesn't mind the feel of the halter going on; some colts get worried when they feel it going over their nose. 

So here's how the lessons went. Today was day 4. 

Day 1:. We had to corner him to catch him, then halter him and see how he handled that. He was Not Impressed. I do this in the barn, which has a center support that he and Velvet can circle around, and circle they did. I had Ted halter and hold Velvet while Theo figured things out. His idea was to hit the end of the lead rope and go up. I was not adding any pressure, just holding the rope and he would take off and hit the end of it. Once he realized that it wasn't going to make the halter go away, he stood and pouted. Once standing still and putting up with being petted and rubbed, I turned him loose. 

Day 2: Still had to corner him to catch; this time we had Velvet haltered first. He still tried to outrun the halter. I started asking for a little give, and although he didn't really understand what I wanted I rewarded the slightest movement. Then worked a little on the rope around the hip to get him to move his hind end over. Once he did that just a little bit, we ended the session. 

Lots to think about

Day 3: Two sessions, one in the morning and one in the evening. I wanted to catch him without Ted being there. He zoomed away a lot, but I got him in his favourite corner and caught him.. However, Velvet (morning session) was pacing, wanting out, so I had Ted come and hold her. Theo did try leaving again but rather half hearted as he now knows that it doesn't work. He gave me some nice hip-arounds before we ended the session. In the evening, he was still not wanting to be caught so I started throwing the lead rope over his back  It was interesting that it only took a few throws and he stood to be caught. He kind of wrapped himself up in the rope a bit and then stood still. Once again, I had to get Ted to hold Velvet. But we got some nice gives, especially following the rope around the hip. 

A nice little give

That hip though! 

Day 4: Our morning session went really well. Theo tried to evade catching by going around to Velvet's off side, I threw the lead rope over her onto his back, and then he moved to his "spot" and stood while I caught him. I asked for a give forward, and he gave me a couple of nice forward moves, so I called it and will see how he does this evening. 

Notice I'm not pulling on him, just holding the lead rope with minimal tension. The moment he steps forward, he gives himself slack.

When I went to take the halter off he got a little bit flighty but overall- Good boy, Theo! 

Theo photoshoot

 Theo turns 3 weeks old tomorrow morning, and I always like to do a 3 wk. photo shoot. The weather sure cooperated, although Theo sez he can do without all the flies that come with warm weather- they are driving him buggy! (Pun intended.) He throws himself down in mama's shadow, rolls and then tries to sleep, but Velvet isn't cooperating, she just continues to walk and graze, much to his annoyance! 

Theo is muscling up beautifully. 

Straight legs and a pretty head.

Just enough white to make him stand out

Growing into his body, doesn't have to bend his knees to graze now

Beautiful carriage and a nice long stride

I have decided to put Theo up for sale. He needs to go be a rope horse or a breakaway horse like his brothers and that's not something I can do anymore. Sadly- I would have loved to use him as a heel horse if I was 20 years younger. A good part of raising horses is getting them to people who will take them to their full potential, like the folks who bought most of Coyote Belle's sons. 

Stormy day

 We knew there was a storm coming in a few days, and we wanted to get all the pens cleaned before it hit so that we weren't running the tractor and skid steer in mud and muck. 

Big girl toys

We got them all done just in time. The storm came with high winds and light but driving rain. I wanted to keep Velvet and Theo in the barn but that really doesn't work with Velvet. Typically I have Belle and Gussie separate at night, and have mama and Theo in their own pen with barn access and feed their hay in there. So today, I put them out in a new grazing pen with Gussie. This is the pen we built last year with 3 strands of electric rope. Sure enough, Theo had to investigate.

 

That should be enough to keep him respectful of the fence. It sure was windy! Gusts of up to 45 mph. 

They had to have their silly romp before settling down to the serious business of grazing. 

Theo is quite the friendly little lad, letting me pet him and stroke his legs, put my fingers in his mouth (toofers!) etc. Next week I will be working on haltering him. He even will cautiously eat out of my hand. His mama is quite active, so he's getting lots of exercise following her around. He is muscling up nicely. 

Shayla is still waiting for Jayne to foal, it could be anytime now. Maybe tonight? I will get photos asap. This will be Jayne's last foal so we are hoping for a filly of course. 

The boys

 Got my big girl camera out and took some photos at turnout time. First up is daddy, Mr. Handsome himself. 

Staring at his mares before he wanders off to graze

He is showing his age now but he is still the handsomest. 

Theo decided to perform for me this morning, much to my delight! 

I even got a few of him rolling. Nothin' like a good back scratch first thing in the morning!

Then get up and show off your power take-off!

Theo is eating grass now as well as his mama's grain, and he's drinking water. 

He has little toofers now

Theo and Velvet are about ready for full time turnout now, once I get my pasture management all done. The next step is to get Theo to figure out what electric fence is all about. 

Out and about

 A few days ago, Theo and Velvet got their turnout with Gussie in the winter pen. Velvet has been asking to get out for a few days, and Theo was getting fairly independent in the foaling pen without mama getting too stressed, so it was time. I have been taking things a bit slower than usual with him; eg. halter training and leading, both of which I haven't really done yet. Partly because I need someone to halter Velvet while I work with him as she gets all agitated and herds him away or just gets between us. And partly because my good left arm isn't working very well for catching and holding him. Ted did help a couple of times and we petted him all over, picked up his feet, and even slipped the halter on him but didn't try to put any pressure on it, just let him wear it while we petted him. Once caught, he stands well with just an arm under his neck as we touch him. Until Velvet intervenes that is!

I didn't have my camera with me at their first turnout, but they all went ripping out into the field at full tilt- that little colt can flat out fly! Gussie was hot on their heels, excited to finally be together with them. Velvet quickly put her in her place. I kept Belle separate the first day, as she can't move fast enough to get away if needed. 

Learning about hills and uneven ground

Trying to graze

Mama relocating him (or is he leading her? )

Getting exercise to build those muscles!

He is really starting to fill out and look like something and not even 2 weeks old. He is so light on his feet, seems like he floats across the ground. I have sent away his DNA for registration and disease panel testing. 

We got a spring snowstorm the last day of April and into today, May 1. I call it the winter-I-wonder-when- it is spring, storm. Enough already! It is turning into rain, so I guess that's a blessing as this province is already in wildfire season. Look like May is fixing to be wet and I hope the farmers can get all their field work done before we hit our true rainy season in June.